Gibson's 'Passion' movie has distributor, release date, new title

Published: 2003-10-27

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Mel Gibson's movie about Jesus' passion now has a distributor, Newmarket Films, and will open in U.S. theaters Feb. 25, Ash Wednesday. Also, the title of Gibson's film has been changed from "The Passion" to "The Passion of Christ." According to Gibson's production company, Icon Productions, the title was changed because another movie had used it. Newmarket Films has released a handful of movies in the past few years. Among the films in its stable are "Whale Rider" and "Memento." It also has helped finance other film productions, most notably "Cruel Intentions" and "The Mexican." The most recent film titled "The Passion" was a short drama released earlier this year in the United States about a young couple "dancing through the extremes of human passion," as it was described.

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